Coe elected BOA chairman

Sebastian Coe promised he would fight for tougher penalties for drugs cheats after being elected unopposed as the new chairman of the BOA.

Lord Coe said he was disappointed when the BOA's lifetime ban for athletes found guilty of doping was overturned in court in May, and that he will seek to enforce a zero tolerance approach.

The Lance Armstrong scandal has focused attention on doping in sport more intensely than ever over the last two months.

The Australian Olympic committee is considering obliging athletes to sign a legally-binding document saying that they have not used banned drugs in order to be selected for the team and anyone making a false statement could result in up to five years in jail.

Coe, the chairman of London 2012 who was elected by acclamation at a meeting of British summer and winter Olympic sports, said he would consider all options.

He told a news conference in London: "You know where I come from over drugs. I've been battling that for as long as I've effectively been a competitor.

"My stance is still non-negotiable and this organisation was quite right to believe that it has to be within the interests and power of the organisation to decide what is best for that organisation.

"99% of the athletes supported that bylaw and I am sorry that we weren't able to uphold it. We will need to think how we will adapt to that landscape.

"I will chair an organisation that will always take a zero tolerance approach to drug abuse in sport but we have to recognise that we are in a much more complex and complicated legal landscape than we were 30 years ago."

The World Anti-Doping Agency - who took the BOA to court over their lifetime ban - will announce changes to their code in January.

WADA currently have a two-year minimum ban for serious doping offences, and the BOA are among those who want the minimum suspension lengthened to four years.

Coe succeeds outgoing BOA chairman Lord Moynihan in the unpaid post, and he made it clear he will have a different approach in terms of the British team.

Moynihan brought in Sir Clive Woodward as a highly-paid director of elite performance but Coe said the BOA's priority should be as organisers of the team.

He added: "This is not an organisation that delivers elite level sportsmen and women, that's the role of the federations and UK Sport through their funded programmes.

"This organisation has the monumental responsibility to manage those teams and to promote Olympism throughout the country."

Woodward announced he was leaving the organisation last month - his position had already been put under review as part of a cost-cutting programme implemented by BOA chief executive Andy Hunt after the London 2012 Games.

The BOA has a substantial deficit, perhaps more than £4million, after its spending on London but Moynihan claimed that should be covered by an expected £5million windfall from the London 2012 organising committee (LOCOG).

Any surplus from the running for the Games will see £5million go to the BOA and £2.5million to ParalympicsGB before the Government has any claim on what remains.

LOCOG say they are working towards breaking even, but Moynihan said he was confident that there would be a surplus. The fact that Coe is now chairman of both organisations will certainly help the BOA's prospects.

Moynihan said: "I have comfort that the surplus distribution will be paid, that LOCOG will not be making a loss but that is my personal view."